Until the End
by TriforceBrave
Summary: The Trolls begin their three year journey, accompanied by a pair of humans. But what about the couple they left behind? Sollux/Aradia oneshot.


The maid and the mage watched in silence as the others disappeared with their meteor, bound on a journey that would surely shape the beginning of a better future. Aradia Megido watched with a heavy heart as the darkness consumed the grey rock, leaving her alone with one sole Troll who'd chosen to remain behind. She tried not to look at him, but her curiosity quickly got the better of her. Before she could stop herself, Aradia found herself sneaking a glance out of the corner of her eye.

Mercifully Sollux Captor paid her no mind as her glance turned into a solemn stare. As a robot, she'd hardly given Sollux a single thought. Her emotions had become dull enough after her untimely demise, and possessing a metallic shell had done little to remedy that. But now that she was alive again, she couldn't help but look upon the mage and take note of his appearance.

Sollux certainly had changed since she'd last seen him. His shirt and cheeks were stained with mustard colored tears and blood. His glasses were gone, as were his beautiful blue-and-red eyes. In their places were two empty sockets, one black and one white. Somehow those sockets managed to be just as expressive as his eyes, if not more. Aradia's look softened as she took in his pinched eyebrows and haggard features. The maid could only be thankful that Sollux couldn't smell her pity like Terezi Pyrope could.

No, wait. Aradia did not pity Sollux. Her feelings were sympathetic, if nothing else. They had both lost so much even before Sgrub had consumed their lives. So even if he could sniff her emotions out, Aradia would have been okay with it. Sollux Captor could take mutual sadness better than pity.

But even if his sense of smell was average for a Troll, Aradia forgot he could tell she was staring at him. Sollux turned to face her. "What's wrong?"

It was odd, hearing him talk without a lisp. She was so used to him trying to talk around his mouthful of fangs. It was even stranger hearing him exaggerate his 'o's like she did. Aradia blinked and diverted her gaze to the endless void beneath her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to stare." When Aradia looked up, she immediately noticed Sollux's jaw had tightened. She gulped. "You just look so... different."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Sollux responded, his stony features unmoving.

Aradia found herself drawn to his empty sockets before she could look away. His question made her think; although she was upset he'd lost his vision, Aradia was thankful she no longer had to look into his eyes. Every time she even thought about his eyes, even as a robot Aradia couldn't help but shiver. She truly loved his multicolored gaze, but the only thing she could think about was her last look at them while she was alive. Fueled by Vriska Serket's hatred and mind honey, Sollux's normally beautiful, calm gaze had morphed into a raging storm of blue and red hellfire. Aradia could still remember the scorch of his psychic gaze as it bit into her flesh, squeezing the life out of her body as it burned her alive...

Aradia's chest tightened. Her breath caught in her throat and a quiet noise remniscient of a choke escaped her mouth. Sollux frowned, but before he could say anything Aradia whispered, "Good."

Sollux wasn't convinced. His fingers twitched at his sides. He raised a hand to point at the blood splatters that covered the symbol on his shirt. "So a bloody, blind Sollux is a good thing." He muttered, just loud enough for Aradia to hear.

Aradia's heart almost froze in her chest. "No! that's not what I meant...!"

"I know." Sollux turned away to face the gargantuan green orb of light behind him. The green sun was huge, but surprisingly not as bright as Aradia had imagined. He fell quite for a moment, seemingly lost in the star before him. "Jack will be here soon." He commented, almost casually, "You sure you can take him?"

The question came from nowhere. Aradia thought about it for a moment before she gave Sollux a half-hearted shrug. She managed to freeze Jack Noir before, but could she do it again? Even if she could... how long could she hold him for? She didn't have an answer for her own question, but she had to at least try. She had to give it her all, for Karkat, Gamzee, Terezi and Kanaya, as well as all of the Trolls who had lost their lives.

"I'll hold him off for as long as I can." She said. Aradia's wings flickered to life as she began to float away from Sollux.

"Where are you going?" He asked without turning, "If you're fighting Noir then I'm fighting too."

Aradia stopped. "Are you sure? I mean, you never reached God Tier, and your eyes..."

"What about them?" Sollux's tone abruptly grew lighter. Almost mirthful. "Being blind doesn't make me completely useless, you know." He spun around. The corners of his lips had curled into the beginnings of a smile. "Actually, if you want to know the truth, it's a lot better this way. I like it."

Just seeing Sollux acting cheerful brought a wide grin to Aradia's face. It had been a long while since he'd been anything but enraged or lost in a sea of self-pity. Sollux drifted closer to her. Without wings he was slow, but Aradia watched until he stopped hardly a foot away from where she hovered. "It's nice, not being hindered by my glubbing eyes."

Glubbing? Aradia cocked an eyebrow. _Someone _had been hanging around Feferi for too long.

"Is it hard?" She asked Sollux, "Being blind, I mean."

He shrugged. "The voices are quiet now, so it's better than when I could see. Besides, I knew it was coming for a while."

Sollux reached forward, curling his bloodied fingers around one of her hands. The smile on his face quickly faded as he ran his thumb across her palm. His brow furrowed and a shadow crossed his face when he looked up at Aradia. "I'm really sorry about everything." Sollux's voice had suddenly become barely more than a whisper.

Her eyes widened at once. "Sorry?" Aradia knew what he was talking about, but it didn't make the abrupt apology any less surprising. Trolls died that way every day. Vriska's petty attack was hardly unusual.

Sollux tightened his grip on her hand. "Ever since that day I've... I just really felt horrible about everything."

Aradia stared at him in silence. Her eyes were beginning to burn, but she blinked away any tears that were threatening to form. More memories were surfacing in her mind, and for a moment, she was practically standing back at her window, staring up at her possible matesprit with equal excitement and dread. She had been so confused at first, but the second she noticed the jar of mind honey in his hand, it all clicked. Aradia could only watch in horror as Sollux approached, his eyes burning with psychic energy...

Once again she found herself choking on her own breath. Aradia squeezed her eyes shut and tried to fight the wave of emotion, but Sollux probably already knew exactly what she was feeling.

"It wasn't your fault." Aradia managed to say, "It was Vriska's." Suddenly Aradia felt as if an invisible being had reached inside of her and grabbed hold of her lungs. She could hardly breathe, let alone talk. Ragged pants crept from her throat as her chest rose and fell. She tried to calm herself down, but her efforts only seemed to tighten the grip on her insides. A whirlwind of memories tore through her mind, but above everything Aradia could hear her own voice screaming, _Terezi! Why didn't I listen to her?!_

She was alive now, but even with that fact in mind she couldn't help but berate herself over her stupidity. Terezi had been right all along, but somehow Aradia had been too blind to accept her advice. So much suffering could have been avoided... for both herself, as well as Sollux.

Aradia didn't even realize she'd been crying until she felt Sollux brush her tears away with the back of his other hand. Her eyes fluttered open, and through her blurred, rust-tinted vision, it looked like Sollux had been crying as well.

Or at least it did until he wiped her eyes again. He bore a deep frown, and his brows were sagging, but his empty eyes were only giving the illusion of shedding tears. "It's over, Aradia. It has been for a while. Don't cry." The mage hovered closer. Sollux reached upward and cupped her face in his hands. His touch was surprisingly tender as he ran his grey fingertips up the sides of her face, stopping where her scarlet hood began to cover it.

She felt him slide it down, releasing the bushy black hair trapped within. Her locks tumbled down past her shoulders, while a few stray bits fell in front of her eyes. Sollux brushed them away as he drifted even closer to his matesprit. "I don't know how much time we've got left, Aradia," Sollux whispered, "But we may as well make the best of it."

Air began to return to her lungs, but her heart was starting to race. Sollux was so close; she could feel his breath against her neck and face. She could see every detail on his empty face with such vivid clarity, from his white-and-black sockets to his toothless mouth. She could feel his heartbeat and smell the golden blood running through his body...

...and she loved every second of it. Sollux smiled, and within moments Aradia's lips curled to match it. He descended upon her mouth as her eyes closed. At first his touch was mild; his lips asked for little, taking only gentle nips, but it was Aradia who wanted more. A sudden craving for her matesprit ripped through her like a cyclone. Aradia threw herself at Sollux and wrapped her arms around him, basking in his warmth and begging him for more.

Sollux was happy to oblige. The mage pressed his lips against Aradia's. His kisses grew passionate, and with every one of them Aradia could feel him making up for everything he'd done in the past. That night vanished within an instant. All that mattered was the Sollux in front of her. The one who held her, the one who was caressing her. The one that was _loving _her.

Somehow her hands found themselves in his nest of hair. Aradia ran her fingers through his raven locks, messing it up even worse than before. The action seemed to spur something within the mage. Sollux's mouth moved to her cheeks, then to her neck. Aradia hunched over the mage as his lips worked their way downward. Although he had no teeth, his kisses were nonetheless quite rough. Aradia buried her face in the side of Sollux's head as he began to move back up. The scent of his blood was burning Aradia's nostrils, but it was worth it. She'd never been so close to a Troll before. Her grasp tightened around the tufts of hair between her fingers, and Sollux gave her one final kiss before he buried his head in the crook of Aradia's neck.

His heart was racing just as fast as hers now. Aradia could feel every thump against her chest. They were both breathing so heavily now. Aradia dug her nails into the back of Sollux's skull. He hissed, but gave her no protest. "I missed you so much," she whispered into his ear.

Although she couldn't see his face, she could feel Sollux smile. "I'm here," he said between ragged breaths, "And I'll be here until the end."

Aradia laughed. It was hardly audible, but it was the happiest sound she'd made in a long while. Her heart swelled with red feelings and her smile somehow widened further. A single, rusty tear formed in her eye. It crawled across her face, but when it fell, it was quickly absorbed by the mage's shirt. "Sollux?" She asked with a breathless voice.

"Yeah?" His voice was just as quiet.

Aradia inhaled as deeply as she could, inviting the overwhelming scent of Sollux's blood into her nostrils once again. "Can you do me a favor?"

He stroked the back of her head gently, running his fingers through her hair just as she had with his. "Of course."

"Until he comes... don't let go."

Sollux only laughed, and held her tighter.


End file.
